Kathleen McLaughlin

While working  the streets in downtown Toronto, Kathleen McLaughlin went by a handful of aliases: Katherine Lyle, Katherine Moore, and Katherine Descoteaux.

To her family, she was simply Kathleen McLaughlin, a 33-year-old mother of three. 

Kathleen's body was found by surveyors in a cornfield near Warden Avenue, south of Highway 7, in Markham on July 31, 1979. An autopsy later determined that she had died as a result of blunt-force trauma. 

She was last seen alive more than one month earlier, on June 27 in Toronto's Cabbagetown neighbourhood, where she worked as a prostitute. Police believe she may have got into a vehicle in a hotel parking lot near Sherbourne and Carlton Streets in the dark of night.

That vehicle, possibly brown or cream coloured, was never identified.

From the cold case files

Crime Scene Photographs

Cold Case Docs

• Read a story from the August 2, 1979 edition of the Toronto Sun, highlighting the investigation into Kathleen's murder
• Read a story from the August 9, 1996 edition of the Toronto Sun, offering details into Kathleen's life from her sister, Florence

Points of Interest

Help solve Kathleen's murder

Do you have information about Kathleen McLaughlin's murder? Can you help identify her killer? 

If so, please contact the York Regional Police Cold Case Unit at 1-866-876-5423 ext. 7865 or email the investigators directly. Want to remain anonymous? Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, leave a tip online at www.1800222tips.com or text a tip by sending TIPYORK and a message to CRIMES (274637).